Pay no attention to the guy in the center.
It's been six years since the series first aired, and now, Carmen gets the DVD treatment! Or at least three episodes from the series gets onto DVD--Labyrinth, Labyrinth, Part Two, and Labyrinth, Part Three.
The Episodes:
Looks like the guys at DIC Inc. decided to do some editing before releasing the DVD. All three titles of the episodes appear in the front, one after another. If you know the story, skip the next several section. If not, continue.
Carmen steals miniature-scaled landmarks from the Mini-Europe Theme Park in Brussels, Belgium. What does she do with them? She uses the landmarks and programs them into her training academy for VILE henchmen wanna-bes. Zack and Ivy gain entry to the academy, and it's not long before Carmen finds out. In an effort to escape the detectives, Carmen time travels to the future, and so do Zack and Ivy.
Carmen makes a crash landing in a Central American jungle in the year 2101 and successfully thwarts a robbery in progress. Meanwhile, Zack and Ivy arrive to a new Times Square in New York City, and that's where they find out Carmen has been declared a heroine. Zack and Ivy are now considered criminals and despite that, they continue their efforts to catch Carmen, and to blow her cover. Carmen is given the honor to reveal what was the top secret item that was nearly stolen, the world's most powerful electro-magnet. However, Zack and Ivy blow Carmen's cover, and she escapes with the magnet and back to her time machine.
Zack and Ivy now have to once again, play catch up with Carmen--all the way to the Alps in 218 BC. Carmen steals Hannibal's elephants, and Hannibal demands Zack and Ivy to return his elephants. In the city of Rome, 176 AD, Zack and Ivy are caught and must fight each other in the Roman Colosseum. During the fights, however, Carmen tries to steal the Roman Colosseum, sending the citizens fleeing in panic. Zack and Ivy nearly catch Carmen, but she escape back home--present day. After returning the stolen items to their appropriate time period, Zack and Ivy check out what's left of Carmen's training facility...
The Video:
Nice, clean transfer from video to DVD. Well, maybe not exactly a clean transfer, as you can occasionally see grains from time to time. Another thing, you can notice some shakiness at times. Let's just say it's not exactly one of the best transfers from TV episode to DVD. Now, if I could only get a flatscreen or widescreen TV, it would be even better...
Moving on. The episodes are presented movie style. There are "chapters" so you can skip to which section you want, but like I said earlier, it won't display the title of the episode.
The Sound:
Presented in Dolby stereo sound. While it sounds nice and all that, it would've been better if there was an option to play in mono or stereo. Be real careful on the volume though--it can get pretty loud.
Extras:
Let's see...English, Spanish, subtitled English, Spanish with English subtitles...well, that's all the combos I can think up of...
Spanish...well...I'll try and nab audio files of it when I can. I've noticed that a voice will announce the location (in Spanish, obviously), but it retains the English spelling of words (even in the subtitles and when the Player is talking to Carmen.) Not to mention a few lip un-synchronising at times, but who can blame that? Good for those who speak en espaņol, or for those wanting to brush up on their Spanish.
More extras, you say? Well...there's that quiz...multiple choice. Answer six questions about Carmen Sandiego: Time Traveler correctly, and you get a treat--a trailer promoting Time Traveler, Carmen's Revenge, and Where in the World? Treasures of Knowledge tapes, DVD, and game. The quiz is amusing, and the trailer is quite interesting, but avoid the trailer if you have the Timing is Everything promotional episode from the game, skip it. It's not worth your time.
For the bonus mission, it's DVD-ROM only. It lets you play the first mission of Where in the World? Treasures of Knowledge.
Not a bad start to bring the series to DVD. There's always room for improvement...
Scores:
The Episodes: Carmen travels to the past, present, and future in this miniseries/movie. Well written and executed. Would've been better had DIC Inc. kept the original format of the episodes.
9 out of 10
The Video: Some grain here, some dirtiness there, but overall a good transfer.
7 out of 10
The Audio: Crisp, clean Dolby stereo. It would've been better had it let you choose between mono or stereo.
7 out of 10.
The Extras: Choice between having subtitled language, a quiz, and a trailer. While not loaded on extras, they are nice...except that trailer if you've seen it far too many times.
6 out of 10.
AVERAGE SCORE: 7 out of 10
Comments (Feel free to ignore this section):
I was pleased to hear that a Carmen DVD was going to be released. I thought that it could just be carbon copies of the TV version of the episodes, but I guess I was wrong...movie style episodes are great, but it really hurts when it's not retained in its original form. Good DVD for purchase, but don't expect for three full episodes complete with opening and ending credits for all three.